Herbie told Pat Mcafee that ND looks so much different physically than years past. Really long, springy, athletic looking in skill positions. Credited Freeman’s recruiting
Herbstreit
- Thread starter edub72
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When I watched the game, I thought our team looked smaller than in years past, especially on defense, with some of our down linemen looking more like linebackers and our linebackers looking more like defensive backs.
Here is a link to a story with Herbstreit's comments:
www.si.com
The video of the interview Herbstreit gave to McAfee is embedded at the end of the story. Good stuff.
What Kirk Herbstreit Loves About Notre Dame and Marcus Freeman in 2024
Kirk Herbstreit isn't always fast to compliment the Notre Dame football program so when he does like this it feels significant.
The video of the interview Herbstreit gave to McAfee is embedded at the end of the story. Good stuff.
I honestly think it's from some of those guys wearing single digits. Just looks different.
MF recruiting better and more athletic players
He's shopping down a different aisle than BK was
Shopping certainly. Who Freeman lands, while recruiting is better, the aisle hasn’t changed much.
5 Stars are tough sledding for Freeman.
There’s no NFL major in South Bend, and you are expected to prioritize school:
Yeah but he was just saying that because he wanted to impress Pat McAfee. He was like, 'Pat, I just want you to know, ND is really good this year. It's because of MF, the defense is awesome, they're all long and springy, and this time it's different, ND is really good... '
And Pat was like, 'Oh wow.... '
They were just gossiping. I will say as far as my opinion goes, this defense does look like it could be like, next-level category. We're gonna make the playoff, and hopefully go undefeated. Though USC does look good enough to be a tough opponent. But if it's true that defense wins championships, maybe we could have a real shot this time. The offense is probably not good enough for that. But the defense very well could be. I'm not sure who's so awesome this year to have to beat. UGA, I guess maybe tOSU too. Or who knows, maybe a whole bunch of teams. But if we go 12-0 and are the #5 seed, we could be in that top group.
And Pat was like, 'Oh wow.... '
They were just gossiping. I will say as far as my opinion goes, this defense does look like it could be like, next-level category. We're gonna make the playoff, and hopefully go undefeated. Though USC does look good enough to be a tough opponent. But if it's true that defense wins championships, maybe we could have a real shot this time. The offense is probably not good enough for that. But the defense very well could be. I'm not sure who's so awesome this year to have to beat. UGA, I guess maybe tOSU too. Or who knows, maybe a whole bunch of teams. But if we go 12-0 and are the #5 seed, we could be in that top group.
Freeman is recruiting better. The overall quality of recruits has been an improvement over BK. Just look at the QB room. That position alone has vastly improved over what we had.
Freeman 8-4 vs Top 25 at ND
Kelly 3-6 vs Top 25 at LSU
For what it's worth, I thought Herbstreit and Fowler had lots of nice things to say about Notre Dame during the game. I also tend to think that our fans overreact and take any comment from an announcer that is not over-the-top Tony Robertsesque pro-ND as some kind of insult.
I also thought the officiating was fair. The fourth down spot looked bad to me, but they never showed the other side, which may have shown something we didn't see. Someone also posted that the refs gifted A&M with its TD but we committed two big penalties, hands to the face, which they did not show on replay, and a pretty obvious PI in the end zone, which they did.
Ultimately, I think the game came down to our QB playing a little better in difficult circumstances than their QB, who was playing in favorable circumstances. Leonard avoided disaster and seized enough opportunities presented to him to lead us to victory. Weigman, not so much.
I also thought the officiating was fair. The fourth down spot looked bad to me, but they never showed the other side, which may have shown something we didn't see. Someone also posted that the refs gifted A&M with its TD but we committed two big penalties, hands to the face, which they did not show on replay, and a pretty obvious PI in the end zone, which they did.
Ultimately, I think the game came down to our QB playing a little better in difficult circumstances than their QB, who was playing in favorable circumstances. Leonard avoided disaster and seized enough opportunities presented to him to lead us to victory. Weigman, not so much.
Agree. Weigman looked like he played scared, though maybe ND's D played a huge role in that. Leonard looked poised and confident.
On the 4th down spot, there was some interesting information I read this morning in The Athletic about that call. The article had some screen shots that showed the unofficial yellow line on TV was about a half yard behind the actual LOS, so it made it appear Leonard had easily gotten the first down, when in fact he came up short. And while we got the short end of the stick on that call, we probably lucked out when Beaux Collins wasn't whistled for a personal foul after he shoved the TAMU DB in the back after his 20-yard catch on the sideline. In fact, in the story on the main page I saw that Collins said he saw the official reach for the flag in his back pocket, but then apparently decided not to throw it. We got really lucky with that one, and hopefully that was a teachable moment for Collins about not letting his emotions get the better of him.
Connor Weigman absolutely sucked. Obviously our defense had something do with that, a lot to do with it. But the idea that this plodding, thus-far underachieving, very likely to be yet another five star bust/disappointment QB was all set to shred ND apart and take his place in the pantheon of great QBs of the last thirty years, but our defense was such a towering colossus that we made him look like a shitty walk-on instead, is not accurate. It's in the same vein as the whole Anthonie Knapp is an OL of destiny thing that preceded the game.
Knapp got the nod by force of unfortunate circumstance, which happens sometimes and teams have to start a true frosh for lack of a preferred alternative and it is what it is, and it worked out tolerably enough and we got the win. And Connor Weigman just plain sucks, even though of course the defense was all over him, and shut him down, and he played like shit. Both with excellent individual play, and presumably good tactical scheming to throw him off his rhythm and whatnot. But he definitely did suck all on his own to the point where it was almost annoying, and insulting. As if to say, god damn dude, you suck. How many times are you going to miss your WRs that are being well defended, but not that well defended, and make some shitty lame throw that lands at their feet, or sails ten feet over their head?
But whatever, we got the win. And we'll be 11-0 heading into the big USC game, and maybe USC will still be nursing playoff possibilities of their own, as their defense looks much improved...
Knapp got the nod by force of unfortunate circumstance, which happens sometimes and teams have to start a true frosh for lack of a preferred alternative and it is what it is, and it worked out tolerably enough and we got the win. And Connor Weigman just plain sucks, even though of course the defense was all over him, and shut him down, and he played like shit. Both with excellent individual play, and presumably good tactical scheming to throw him off his rhythm and whatnot. But he definitely did suck all on his own to the point where it was almost annoying, and insulting. As if to say, god damn dude, you suck. How many times are you going to miss your WRs that are being well defended, but not that well defended, and make some shitty lame throw that lands at their feet, or sails ten feet over their head?
But whatever, we got the win. And we'll be 11-0 heading into the big USC game, and maybe USC will still be nursing playoff possibilities of their own, as their defense looks much improved...
Worked out very well with Knapp given the environment of the first game. The future is very bright with these young guys upfront. The longer the game went on the better they got.
That could be a part of it. Also, smaller shoulder pads are now in vogue. Gone is the mid-80's look.
For a ND fan you seem quite upset ND won and that they are recieving praise for their performance. Even your backhanded compliments of the defense still cant hide the fact that you're seething with anger that ND is thriving without your beloved Brian Kelly at the helm and to make matters worse for you he is struggling at the moment.
Furthermore your analysis on Knapp lacks any shred of insight because you/we simple dont know if Knapp would of beat out Jagusah outright if he hadnt gotten hurt.
I think I can speak for the majority of the board that we are enjoying your childish temper tantrum posts and look foward to more of your miserable posts the rest of the season.
Size for lineman obviously matters. But athleticism, especially in today’s game matters as well. If you’re lucky enough to have both , then you most likely have an NFL prospect. This is an extremely young offensive line. There will be plenty of growing pains ahead. But you have give them credit. They held their own against a very good defensive line. That game doesn’t mean they go on to win all their games. However , it is encouraging and should give the offense confidence in future games.
We have kind of a smaller, more athletic OL this year. A&M's was bigger - they're huge. But ours played better Saturday.
ND - 198 yds rushing / 34 carries (5.8 ypc)
0 sacks allowed
TX A&M - 146 yds rushing / 38 carries (3.8 ypc)
1 sack allowed
By the stats, ND's OL played better.
Oh that's not true. Our running backs are better and our QB is a running threat while there's is not. Also our secondary is better than theirs
Their OL gave up 3 tackles for loss. Ours gave up 7
If you switched OLs before the game, ND wins by more with TX Ams OL. Our final numbers just look better because we have the better players on offense and a running QB but if you watched or rewatched the game, their OL was better
Riley Leonard sucks, he'll be injured by game 4...... you say that but when time came to actually bet, you backed out like the coward you are. All talk
That's fine. Go back and rewatch. I've watched 3x. Their DL got more pressure on Riley without blitzing than we did with blitzes. Their OL created more holes in the run game throughout the game, not just the 2nd half. And they gave up less plays behind the Los
We just have better more talented players surrounding the OL than they did
It's true having a QB who's elusive in the pocket and a running threat can make your sack totals less and your rushing yards more. And Leonard does that. Nevertheless, I still feel very happy about our young OL's performance against one of the most talented DLs in the country. And their DL's more talented than ours. Maybe that was the difference, as far as their getting more tackles for loss.
But I'll take 198 yds rushing and no sacks allowed anytime against a defense that good, in that environment.
I'm also very happy about our OLs performance. But there were times we just got flat out whooped by their DL. Riley was getting the ball out extremely fast. He held the ball much less than Weigman which skews this things. Wegmans was holding the ball longer and getting less pressure
But for our OL do just be solid in that game was a huge win for us
Yeah, even if they only battled to a draw, it was a win, considering the environment and how all the experts were saying A&M had one of the best DLs in the country.
Never said he sucked, he's just not that great of a thrower. We are only on game 2....
The team responds to him and that's very important in a QB.
I noticed a " C " on his jersey. That impressed me.
I noticed a " C " on his jersey. That impressed me.
I actually was surprised how well he threw when he had time in the pocket. Hard to judge a QB's accuracy when he is getting pressured like he was most of Saturday.
Mostly miscommunication issues. Rarely did he miss to open wrs
With the excitement of our win, I think the numerous mistakes, poor communication, and just plain misses by our inexperienced OL are being badly overlooked. I thought they showed marked improvement as the game wore on, and I have tons of optimism for how good this group can be, but I also think we would be crying about their collective mistakes if not for Leonard and Denbrock.
